


a little (hard to understand)

by paishhao



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Conversations, Established Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Fluff, Jeon Wonwoo & Wen Jun Hui | Jun are Best Friends, Jeon Wonwoo-centric, Light Angst, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23722513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paishhao/pseuds/paishhao
Summary: Wonwoo freaking out with his bff Junhui in the hours before his date after the last one went, uhh poorly.[ “Our last date was going really well so by the end of it, I asked him to come up to my place. So he did and before anything could really happen, he suddenly said he had to leave and ran out the door. Kinda felt a little humiliated.”Junhui frowns. “How far did you get?”“Uh,” Wonwoo drawls.“I’m not gonna tell Myungho,” Junhui sighs with an eye roll.“Hand down his pants, I had just got on my knees.” ]And then Wonwoo suffers on said date.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 11
Kudos: 165





	a little (hard to understand)

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: dialogue-heavy, lots of platonic wonhui, mentions of past unrequited wonhui, the domestic fluff is junhao's, the light angst is wonwoo's, minwon argue a bunch, mingyu might come off weird here but I'll explain later.  
> also there's no sex (I'm sry) they just refer to it a few times
> 
> I just wanted to try something where everything basically takes place in one afternoon/evening

“Junnie, I need your help!” Wonwoo announces, bursting into his best friend’s apartment.

Junhui sits up from where he was laying on the couch. “That spare key was given to you for _emergencies_ , Wonu!”

“This _is_ an emergency,” Wonwoo says, pulling up his chat window for Junhui to see as he crosses the flat.

“ ‘ _Hi Wonwoo, I know this is short notice but can we meet tonight at the restaurant? Consider it our next date_.’ What’s the problem?” Junhui asks, standing up to read the screen Wonwoo’s presenting to his face. “Besides the fact that they type like a sleazy corporate boss with too much power over you.”

Wonwoo whines. “This is the guy I told you about. The one I’ve been seeing lately.”

Junhui rushes to grab Wonwoo’s wrist and turn the phone back to him. “You literally just have him saved as ‘ _Date_ ’, not even with a heart or anything. And his picture’s just hands, what the fuck, Wonu?”

Wonwoo pulls his wrist back and pockets his phone. “It’s not that big a deal.” 

Junhui starts eyeing him skeptically. “Something happened,” he says after a while. “You had his info there and you deleted it, didn’t you?”

Wonwoo fidgets. “Yeah well, he’s not going to stick around anyways. I don’t think he wants me.”

“Why would you think that?” 

“I mean, the last date went fine, it’s just at the end…” Wonwoo says, hoping Junhui will get the hint. Instead he sees his friend looking at him with growing serious concern. “No, wait, he didn’t like, _hurt me_ or anything like that, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Physically,” Junhui states flatly.

“Physically,” Wonwoo repeats, firm.

“But emotionally…?”

Wonwoo nods. He is and he admits it because why would he lie to Junhui? 

“Is that why you came over last week and watched movies with me without saying a thing the entire time?”

Wonwoo hesitates, fixing his glasses.

Junhui lets out a heavy sigh and leans back on the couch. “So your last date ended poorly, but he didn’t _physically_ hurt you and yet you think he doesn’t want you ? Are you going to tell me what happened or you want me to guess?”

Wonwoo bites his tongue. He just realized that he came in here claiming _emergency_ but now is being way too defensive and difficult to even tell his best friend everything he needed to know to help him.

He looks over at Junhui and sees him tossing his head back and forth in thought. “Well, the only thing I can think of is that he rejected you. But you would have outright said that and not bothered keeping his contact info,” he starts deducing to himself. Wonwoo watches, sitting on the sofa arm. “Did you guys finally sleep together and he disappeared the next morning?”

“Junnie!”

“No, you’re right, you would’ve had a way different reaction if that were the case. I guess it can’t be _that bad_ because the guy wants to see you again, _and_ he called it a date,” Junhui ponders aloud, pausing to look Wonwoo up and down. “And you clearly want to go or you wouldn’t be this _stressed_.”

This gets a chuckle from both of them. He didn’t deserve Junhui.

“Maybe you’re overthinking this again, Wonwoo-yah. You’re great, you’re smart and funny and good-looking and thoughtful; he'd be stupid not to want you!” he says with an encouraging grin.

“ _You_ didn’t want me,” Wonwoo blurts before he could stop himself. _Shit._ When he looks, Junhui’s eyes are swelling up with concern again. “No, wait, shit — Junnie, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. It hasn’t bothered me in ages, I swear.”

Junhui’s head still tilts sympathetically. “Wonwoo, you know that wasn’t because of you or anything, I just— ” he cuts himself off and looks down nervously, suddenly feeling bad. 

“You already had Myungho, I know,” Wonwoo replies with a reassuring smile, grabbing Junhui’s hands. “I’m happy for you guys, I promise.”

“Myungho really likes hanging out with you, you know.” Junhui offers a nervous smile. He tries to swing their hands back and forth a bit. Wonwoo goes along with it, letting out another slightly uneasy chuckle.

“I like hanging out with him too.”

There’s an odd silence and Wonwoo wants to kick himself for basically causing it.

Junhui retracts his hands to do a dramatic thinking pose. Wonwoo’s pretty sure he must have picked that up from his boyfriend. “So whatever happened with this guy must be pretty bad if it made you bring _that_ up,” he says, thinking out loud again.

The sound Wonwoo lets out is close to a weird droning nasally “hah” and Wonwoo isn’t even sure why or how his body chose to produce that noise. 

Junhui pats Wonwoo’s shoulder. “Look, Wonwoo, whatever happened, I’m sure it’ll be fine! Just meet him, hear him out, see what he has to say.”

“I’m not sure, Junnie,” Wonwoo says, suddenly becoming nervous. “What if he wants to end things?”

“You can’t think like that, Wonu!” Junhui objects, slapping his arm. He pouts a little, tilting his head about while he thinks. “But if he somehow does, you come cry to me and Myungho and we’ll go out for ice cream,” he offers.

“Myungho doesn’t eat ice cream,” Wonwoo replies flatly.

Junhui dismisses this with a couple hand waves. “He will if he knows it’s for a good reason. But he won’t _have to_ because it’s going to be fine!” 

Wonwoo hums, nodding slowly but still unsure. “You sure you guys can’t come and make it a double date or something?”

“What? All of a sudden? I don’t know if Myungho will go for that, he likes knowing his schedules beforehand,” Junhui ponders aloud. “Why are you so nervous anyway? I still don’t even know what happened.”

“Yeah, but…” Wonwoo looks up at Junhui seriously. “You can’t tell anyone, not even Myungho.”

Junhui pales. “It’s _that bad_?” When Wonwoo sends him an urgent look, Junhui backs down. “Alright, I won’t tell Myungho.”

“Our last date was going really well so by the end of it, I asked him to come up to my place. So he did and before anything could really happen, he suddenly said he had to leave and ran out the door. Kinda felt a little humiliated.”

Junhui frowns. He knows that ‘kinda felt a little humiliated’ for Wonwoo means ‘actually dying inside and it’s a miracle he’s even out of bed talking’. That _definitely_ explains that silent movie night. “How far did you get?”

“Uh,” Wonwoo drawls. 

“I’m not gonna tell Myungho,” Junhui sighs with an eye roll.

“Hand down his pants, I had _just_ got on my knees.”

Junhui pats Wonwoo’s shoulder again. “Oh, my sweet, sweet, little Wonu. Is that why you thought he wouldn’t want you?”

Wonwoo swats his hand off. “You’re only a month older, I’m not _that_ little.”

“But if he asked to go out with you again, it can’t be _that bad_ , right? He wants to see you.” Wonwoo envied Junhui’s optimism sometimes.

“Yeah, probably to tell me off,” he mumbles.

“Did he tell you _why_ he had to leave?”

“Junnie! Obviously, I scared him off by being too forward,” Wonwoo sighs, adjusting his glasses.

Junhui shakes his head. “Well, he _could have_ happened to have an important meeting at that time.”

“At eleven at night?”

“Maybe he had to call his mom. Maybe he’s a _huge_ momma’s boy,” Junhui offers with a grin.

Wonwoo frowns. “I would’ve been able to tell that from the first few dates. He’s going to tell me he wants to stop seeing me.”

“Why are you so sure of that? Did you even _read_ his text?”

“Well, he wouldn’t say that in the text, would he? He’s waiting to tell me in person.”

“And you want me to bring Myungho to that? You wish! This guy doesn’t even know us. We don’t know _him_.”

“I just don’t wanna go alone,” Wonwoo pouts.

Junhui _tsks_ and thinks for a while. Soon enough, he puts both hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders. “Okay, I’ll be a few feet away. Like I’ll find a table near yours at the restaurant or something. I won’t spy, I’ll just be around if you need me. Myungho’s at a class right now anyways so he wouldn’t come even if he wanted to.”

“You’re the best, Junnie.” Wonwoo’s face brightens as he pulls him in for a hug. 

Junhui sighs, flopping over on the couch beside Wonwoo. “I know I am. When _is_ the date anyways?”

Wonwoo checks his phone. “Like two hours?”

Junhui grabs the nearest couch cushion and slaps Wonwoo with it. “You could have said that earlier, before you came in calling it an emergency. I guess we’ll just wait here then.”

They fall into a comfortable silence, each on their phones, pulling up their respective games.

“Hey, Junnie?” Wonwoo asks after about twenty minutes.

“Yeah?”

“I just realized, I’ve never seen you and Myungho kiss. How long have you guys been together?”

Junhui frowns at Wonwoo suspiciously. “ _Why_ would you want to see us kiss?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “I’m just curious. Like not making out or anything, jeez, just like, I don’t know, small ones that couples do when they greet each other or whatever.”

“Oh,” Junhui says flatly, attention quickly going back to his game. “Myungho’s pretty reserved. He says ‘our private relationship is not for public consumption’ and all that.”

“I see.” Wonwoo’s voice draws again. There’s another few seconds before Wonwoo asks again. “Does it bother you?”

“What? No, not really. I don’t mind either way, and I respect his preference. He’s actually eased up on it lately. Before, he didn’t want me to call him any nicknames if someone else was around, said it made him antsy. Then one day, I accidentally said it in front of one of his dance friends and thought he’d freak out. He just giggled and said it was fine.” Junhui still hasn’t looked up from his screen.

Wonwoo nods a couple times. “You guys have nicknames? That’s cute.”

“That’s all you got from that?” Junhui asks with a non-serious sneer. “Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“I just realized I don’t really see you guys acting all that couple-y. Sometimes people at work ask me if you guys are actually together and when I say yeah, they don’t really believe me.”

“Why would your publishing people ask if we’re together?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “I think they were planning to hit on one of you or something, I don’t know.”

Junhui just nods and quietly continues his game.

“You never answered my first question,” Wonwoo says curiously.

“Which was?”

“How long have you and Myungho been together? You never told me. One day, you just mentioned you guys were _together for a while_.”

Junhui pouts his lips out in thought. “You’ll have to ask Myungho when he gets back, I’m not sure if he’s okay with people knowing that.”

Wonwoo hums. “You weren’t kidding about that ‘not for public consumption’ thing, huh.”

Junhui shrugs. “Like I said, he’s reserved and that’s what makes him feel comfortable.”

“Are you allowed to tell me who confessed first?”

“Absolutely not,” Junhui replies with a grin on his face. 

Wonwoo laughs to himself and goes back to his own game. Another ten minutes go by when Wonwoo asks another question. “Hey, Junnie?”

“Yes, Wonu?”

“What’s Myungho’s schedule like?”

“Why?”

“I wanna know when he’s free.”

Junhui lowers his phone and looks at Wonwoo suspiciously. “Are you trying to ask my boyfriend out?”

“Do you think he’ll go for it?”

A grin breaks onto Junhui’s face. “He’ll definitely go for it.”

“Wonderful.” Wonwoo returns the grin. “Schedule, please.”

Junhui gives him a pointed look.

“You’re serious? It’s not part of your relationship though, is it? Is it also part of the public consumption thing?”

A weird spurted laugh comes through Junhui’s lips. “No, not that. You think I’d just give away my boyfriend’s schedule _without his consent_? What kind of person do you think I am? That’s despicable.”

“How am I supposed to know when he’s free to ask him out then?”

“You wait until he gets home and ask him in person?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Right.”

“You’re supposed to be the brain between us, Wonu, don’t let us down.”

\-----

Minghao arrives home when there’s about half an hour before Wonwoo’s date. When he walks through the door, he lets out a groan, slinging his bag off his shoulder to suffer in a corner. He walks over to the couch where Junhui is and lays down with his head face-up across Junhui’s lap, eyes closed.

“How was class?” Junhui asks, eyes focusing still mainly on his phone screen.

“Exhausting. I mean, it was pretty fun, it’s a lot to take in, and I’ll get there but right now I’m beat,” Minghao sighs, putting a hand over his eyes. “Hi, Wonwoo.”

“Hi, Myungho,” Wonwoo chirps up. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair in about half an hour.”

“He’s got a date with that guy,” Junhui supplies, switching to holding his phone in portrait mode and combing his hand through Minghao’s hair. Minghao hums in acknowledgment. “I’m gonna go with him. But like, sitting far away in case it all goes wrong. He’s pretty nervous.”

“Hope you don’t mind me borrowing him,” Wonwoo quickly adds before Minghao could object.

Minghao’s hand starts rubbing his temple. “That's fine. Jun-ah, can you see if you can find that medicine I like while you’re out then?”

“The one you heat up a lot?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Sure, how many do you want?”

“Three should be fine,” Minghao replies with a sigh. He bends his knees on the couch and starts swinging them back and forth.

Wonwoo chuckles. “You guys are so cute.”

“Oh, right,” Junhui says, voice still distracted and not looking away from his phone. “ _HaoHao_ , Wonwoo has some questions he wants to ask you.”

Wonwoo starts coughing. He was _not_ expecting that nickname, nor was he expecting Junhui to just throw him to Minghao like that. He looks at Minghao for any reaction but his eyes are still closed.

“Sure, Wonwoo, what is it?” Minghao asks in the same tone he’s been using since he walked in. It reassures Wonwoo, but only a little.

“Uh,” he drawls again. It feels significantly more awkward asking Minghao about it than asking Junhui. Probably because Junhui’s his best friend and he’s not _as close_ with Minghao. Yet, hopefully. “I just …”

“Jun-ah, is he still there?” Minghao asks after a few seconds.

“Yeah, he just doesn’t know how to ask you,” Junhui says through more chuckles.

“I was just wondering like,” Wonwoo finally says, “how long have you and Junnie been together?”

Minghao finally opens his eyes, but it’s in a confused squint as he lifts his shoulders slightly to scan Wonwoo before he lays his head back down. “Did something happen?”

Wonwoo’s not sure whether Minghao’s asking him or not, but Junhui soon goes into a small Mandarin spiel, which Minghao responds with, what Wonwoo’s assuming are, confused Mandarin questions. 

There’s a few more rapid exchanges before Wonwoo suddenly hears Junhui repeat the same syllable a few times nervously and guesses that he’s either stuttering or randomly saying a tongue-twister, to which Minghao chuckles and lightly hits his chest.

“Three years,” Junhui finally replies in Korean, addressing Wonwoo. “He said I can tell you because it’s just you and he’s tired.” He’s still chuckling.

Wonwoo looks at Minghao to double-check and just sees him waving a hand around dismissively as a ‘ _go ahead_ ’ while the other covers his eyes. 

It takes a while for Junhui’s response to sink in because _holy shit, three years is a long time_. It’s a bit longer than he’s known Junhui and far longer than he’s known Minghao.

He’s about to ask how come they never told Wonwoo earlier but he remembers the whole ‘ _Myungho’s pretty reserved, our private relationship is not for public consumption_ ’ conversation. 

Minghao croaks out some more Mandarin and Junhui chuckles, tapping a hand on one of Minghao’s knees almost habitually. “His brain’s too tired to translate to Korean, forgive him. But he said he feels he trusts you enough so I can just answer the rest of your relationship questions.”

“So you can actually tell me who confessed first?” Wonwoo asks with an eager grin.

Junhui starts laughing and one of Minghao’s hands slaps Junhui’s arm. 

“Never mind, I think I can figure it out,” Wonwoo says, joining in on Junhui’s laughter.

Minghao lets out a whiny groan and kicks his legs about a little. He asks Junhui another question in Mandarin and Junhui just shrugs, replying in the little Mandarin Wonwoo _does_ know, the phrase ‘ _I don’t know_ ’. 

“I was just curious since I don’t really see you acting all couple-y,” Wonwoo supplies as a guess to answer Minghao’s question. A puffed exhale of a laugh bubbles out of Minghao.

“Is this not couple-y enough for you?” Junhui asks, gesturing down at Minghao still using his lap as a makeshift pillow. Minghao makes a weaker swing at Junhui’s arm, likely too tired to exert more effort.

“Okay so, if you call him How-How” —Wonwoo looks over as Junhui suddenly starts laughing again— “what does Myungho call you?”

Minghao sits up, smacking Junhui again before leaning on his elbows to address Wonwoo. “Don’t mind him, he’s just laughing because you have a bit of an accent when you say it. Cut the _‘o’_ sound a bit quicker. And I just call him Jun-ah.”

“That’s…” Wonwoo ponders, “less cute than I was expecting.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Junhui exclaims. “I deserve cute nicknames! It’s kind of weird though, because he usually only uses Jun-ah if we’re alone. Otherwise, he uses Junnie like everyone else.”

Wonwoo’s eyes flit between the two, recalling Minghao using ‘Jun-ah’ twice in front of him earlier. Junhui was right; Minghao _was_ easing up on how much he hides in front of others. 

Minghao sighs, leaning back down yet again and covering his eyes with his hand. “But for the record, Wonwoo, please don’t call me _HaoHao_. I didn’t even want _him_ calling me that in the beginning, but he kept doing it anyway and honestly, I just go with it at this point.”

“If, all of a sudden, I stopped calling you _HaoHao_ , you’d think I was mad at you or that something was wrong.”

“...that’s true,” Minghao concedes. 

“By the way, _HaoHao_ ,” Junhui continues, still just looking at his phone screen. “Wonwoo also wanted to know your schedule so he can ask you out.”

“Junnie!” Wonwoo objects, a bit more embarrassed than he should be.

While Junhui just shrugs, Minghao reaches up to tap his fingers repeatedly at the side of Junhui’s neck. It’s kind of soft and cute if Wonwoo's being honest. “Did you tell him the free spots in my schedule?”

“He insisted you wouldn’t want him to give out that information without your consent,” Wonwoo answers instead, watching Junhui’s face.

Minghao lets out another tired sigh. “Jun-ah, you don’t actually know my schedule, do you?”

“Bold of you to assume I did.”

Moon Junhwi, _you tricky bitch._

Minghao lets out, based on Junhui’s giggly reaction, at least one Mandarin expletive while he fishes around his pockets to produce his phone. He quietly gives it to Junhui who finally looks away from his own phone screen to unlock it and tap around a few times. 

When he passes it to Wonwoo, the screen has Minghao’s monthly calendar lit up with several different colored boxes.

“Just book an event wherever there’s a free space,” Junhui supplies with no emotion, back to being absorbed in his own screen. Wonwoo is about to ask Minghao for confirmation but Minghao just grunts an affirmative before Wonwoo says anything. 

Wonwoo looks around the calendar and purposely avoids anything around ‘ _Dance class_ ’ because he’s not trying to deal with zombie Minghao. He can’t deal with it half as well as Junhui can. 

He finds a nice spot next week after his own work finishes and between two of Minghao’s non-dance classes. In the notes, Wonwoo adds ‘ _Please leave Junnie behind, we can gossip without him_ ’. He confirms and passes the phone back to Junhui.

“So, _HaoHao_ , now that you’re officially cheating on me,” Junhui begins jokingly, leading Minghao to reach up and lightly smack the side of his neck while Junhui leans back and giggles some more. He shuts Minghao’s phone screen off and hands it back to him.

“Anyways, Wonwoo, tell me about your date. This is the third one with this guy, right?” Minghao asks as he puts his phone away without looking at it. Wonwoo would’ve thought Minghao would want to see the entry so he finds this curious. Surprising and curious.

“Uh, this would be the fifth,” he corrects nervously.

“Sorry, my brain's still fried. But that means it’s going well, right?” Minghao asks innocently.

Wonwoo feels uneasy. He was hoping to forget about his date for a bit. “I hope so.”

“Do we only get to know his name when you’re actually together?” 

“You’re really going to ask me that after telling me _just now_ that you guys have been together for _three years_ ?” Wonwoo asks jokingly, hoping Minghao knows he’s not _actually_ that upset about it.

“Fair enough,” Minghao huffs with a laugh. 

Wonwoo runs a hand through his hair. “Besides, if it doesn’t work out, then it wouldn’t have been worth knowing his name anyways. For you guys.”

Junhui’s face scrunches in a suspicious look. “That was worded weird. Do _you_ know his name?”

“I do, but it’s not worth saying if he’s not going to stick around,” Wonwoo finally says.

He notices Minghao’s lips form a frown and asks Junhui more Mandarin questions. 

Whenever this happens, Junhui has always replied in Mandarin. One time Wonwoo asked Junhui about it and he said it was just a habit, although he _could_ technically reply in Korean and have Minghao speak in Mandarin. Junhui just said it makes him feel more homely replying to Mandarin with Mandarin. 

“Oh yeah, _HaoHao_ , we’re getting ice cream with Wonwoo if it doesn’t go well,” Junhui says after their Mandarin exchanges.

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine,” Minghao groans. “Hopefully I’ll have energy by the time you get back.”

“Thanks, Myungho,” Wonwoo chimes. So Junhui was right again.

Junhui taps Minghao’s leg so he can slip away. The date is in a few minutes now and he’s gotta change and drive Wonwoo over to the restaurant. Once Minghao’s head lands on the pillow pulled over to replace Junhui’s lap, Wonwoo catches Junhui give Minghao a quick kiss on the mouth before running off to his room. 

Yeah, he asked Junhui about it earlier, but now knowing Minghao’s preferences to keep their relationship matters private, Wonwoo suddenly feels guilty for some reason. 

But Minghao’s lips curl up into a content, squished smile, eyes still closed. Does he not know Wonwoo saw? Or does he not care?

Junhui comes out from his room, dark jeans, white t-shirt, looking for his car keys. “ _HaoHao_ , we’re leaving!”

“Rest well, Myungho!” Wonwoo calls as he’s about to leave. 

“Hope your date goes well, Wonwoo!” Minghao calls back from the couch.

Junhui pulls his jacket on and leads Wonwoo to the parking garage. “So where’re you meeting this guy?” he asks, pulling his car door closed.

Wonwoo prattles off the address to the restaurant and Junhui sets off.

“I just realized I’m actually going to see him,” Junhui says suddenly. Wonwoo hums distractedly in response. “Is there a reason you’ve been avoiding letting us see him for this long? Not even a picture.”

Wonwoo stares out the window. “I didn’t think it would be worth it if he wasn’t going to stick around.”

“You wouldn’t even give us a _name_ , Wonwoo, for months,” Junhui sighs during a turn.

“There’s no point if—”

“If he doesn’t stick around, I know,” Junhui echoes. After a pause he adds, “Myungho’s worried by how often you’ve been saying that lately, you know? He doesn’t want to say it to you because he doesn’t know if you guys are that close yet, but aren’t you being a bit too closed-off about this?”

“I just don’t want to introduce someone to you guys if it’s not like, _special_ , y’know?” Wonwoo says, his voice coming out a bit lower than he wanted.

“Yeah, but how can he be special if you don’t give him the chance to let him to? You keep saying ‘if he doesn’t stick around’ like you’re already sure he won’t.”

Wonwoo doesn’t respond, still looking around out the windows. Junhui doesn’t prod him the rest of the ride. 

When Junhui parks the car along the curb by the store fronts and they unbuckle their seatbelts, Wonwoo finally asks. “Does Myungho know I used to have a crush on you?”

Junhui looks at him, probably about to ask why Wonwoo’s asking this all of a sudden or what this has to do with anything. But he likely senses this is a serious conversation. “He does,” he answers calmly. Wonwoo looks a bit panicked. “I always tell him everything and I didn’t want him to find out a different way, like unexpectedly or whatever. He doesn’t mind because it was years ago we both know you’re over it.”

“Ah,” Wonwoo says with a sad sigh, playing with his hands. “I’ve been a bit worried, y’know? That I wouldn’t feel that way about anyone else since. I’m not saying I still feel that way about you now, but it’s just … I don’t know.” That’s about as close to confessing that he likes this guy as Wonwoo can muster, and he knows Junhui must have picked up on it.

Junhui frowns. After a few seconds, he puts a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “I mean, you liking me was just a crush, right? And I love you, but it was never going to turn into anything.”

Wonwoo bites at his bottom lip nervously. Junhui sighs, turning in his seat to face him.

“From what you told me before, though, it sounds like this guy _really_ likes you, and I know you do too. Sure, he left when you tried to get intimate with him, but he also wanted to see you again when he could have just ghosted you.”

Wonwoo hadn’t even considered that.

“You constantly convincing yourself that this guy isn’t going to stick around makes me think you just felt safe with your crush on me because you _knew_ what the end result was going to be. You even confessed only after already knowing Myungho and I were together,” he says softly.

Wonwoo gulps, feeling stinging in his eyes but not wanting to look away from his side mirror. He remembers; knowing that Junhui was definitely going to turn him down that day didn’t stop him from crying anyway.

Junhui notices. “But this time, it could _actually_ lead to something. You’re just scared because you don’t know what the end result is this time. You decided on your own that he doesn’t want you and made yourself all defensive so that you can feel prepared and say you’re not hurt because you ‘saw it coming’ if it turns out to be true. It’s okay to be scared, it’s okay not to know, and it’s okay to like him. And it’s also okay to let him like you too, just hear him out,” Junhui says, reaching over to hold the closest of Wonwoo’s hands.

“I hate that you know me like that,” Wonwoo says in a low voice with no real malice. Junhui just chuckles softly. Wonwoo takes off his glasses, intending on wiping them. “I was hoping I could find something like what you and Myungho have.” He ends up wiping stray tears from his eyes instead.

“You won’t,” Junhui says, causing Wonwoo to look at him suddenly and Junhui just holds his hand tighter. “You’ll find something that suits _you_ , but on your own time. Don’t use Myungho and I as some measuring stick for your relationships.” 

Wonwoo starts chuckling a bit, despite his tears. “Are you allowed to tell me _how_ you guys got together? Like I know Myungho confessed but like, all the stuff leading up to that?”

“Probably not,” Junhui snickers. “But I’ll tell you anyways. Another day, when you’re not about to go on an important date.”

Wonwoo looks out his window and spots a taller man approaching the restaurant. Huh, he has the blazer today. “Oh, shit, that’s him.” He fidgets to put his glasses back on, now feeling a bit silly with his Henley-cardigan combo.

“That’s _not_ something people usually say when they see a date,” Junhui says with an amused lilt in his voice. He leans over to see who Wonwoo’s looking at. “Oh, shit, wait, he’s a _model_? What the fuck, why didn’t you tell us?” he whines.

Wonwoo opens the car door with a laugh to escape. “Yeah, yeah,” he says, shutting the door and jogging up to meet his date. “Mingyu!” he calls.

Mingyu turns and sees him. “Oh, Wonwoo, perfect timing! We can just go in together.”

Wonwoo’s a bit surprised at how cheerful Mingyu is, considering their last encounter.

It’s a homely little restaurant, they stopped going to fancy ones after the second date where Wonwoo had told Mingyu he didn’t need to try that hard. It’s pretty packed and has a little less space than most places but it has its charms.

They place their orders and once the server walks away with the menus, Mingyu turns to face him with a smile but Wonwoo speaks up nervously. “I want to apologize.” 

Wonwoo’s plan is simple; apologize for being too forward so that when Mingyu rejects him and says he doesn’t want to see him anymore, Wonwoo can at least comfort himself with the notion that he wasn’t that into Mingyu anyways.

He knows the imaginary Junhui in his brain is shaking his head at him right now, but it's fine. Real Junhui doesn't have to know.

Mingyu tilts his head and Wonwoo thinks he resembles a curious puppy.

“For when I” — Wonwoo looks around the restaurant for kids— “well, you know, you were there.”

“I was,” Mingyu says with a smirk and a nod. “You regret doing it?”

“Well, you ran away,” Wonwoo reasons.

“I know. But whether I did or not, do you regret doing it?”

“What exactly are you asking me?” It comes out soft and a little bit offended. This isn’t going to plan. Wonwoo doesn’t like the look on Mingyu’s face; like he’s too calm and confident he’s winning something when Wonwoo doesn’t even know the _game_.

Mingyu chuckles. “If I hadn’t run away, would you still be apologizing for it?”

“But you _did_ run away, so I _am_ apologizing.”

“That’s not the question.”

“It’s the one I’m answering.” Wonwoo knows he’s being difficult, but Junhui’s right. Too right. He _is_ scared that he likes Mingyu too much and that Mingyu doesn’t want him back. Why else would Mingyu run away? Why else would Mingyu run away _and not tell him why_?

He doesn’t want to hope that this will lead to something only for Mingyu to be playing with him like he is with Wonwoo’s apology. And sure, maybe Wonwoo is a coward who won’t admit his feelings unless he’s sure of the answer.

But even if he is scared, he sure as hell isn’t letting Mingyu know it.

Mingyu just leans back in his seat and stretches, sighing. But not in the annoyed way that Wonwoo expected, more like he’s amused. “Well, I don’t accept your apology.”

Wonwoo frowns. “Why not?”

Mingyu lets out another airy chuckle, putting his chin in his hand, elbow resting on the table. “Don’t wanna.” It’s more cheeky and playful than anything and Wonwoo starts feeling a little humiliated again. Abort plan.

“Have it your way then.” Wonwoo takes out his phone. 

“What are you doing?”

“Texting my friend. He dropped me off and said he would pick me up if this wasn’t going well.”

Another head tilt. “You think this isn’t going well?” 

Wonwoo raises a brow. “You think it _is?_ ” he sneers.

Mingyu reaches across the table to grab Wonwoo’s phone. “I don’t think it’s going _poorly._ ”

“That’s a low bar.”

“Why are you so upset? We _just_ started dinner,” Mingyu asks with a slight hum. He doesn’t look at Wonwoo’s phone, to his surprise, just shuts the screen off and keeps hold of it.

“I was apologizing to you for” —Wonwoo looks around again— “what I did on the last date and you’re not accepting it. Why else would I be upset?”

Mingyu shrugs nonchalantly and Wonwoo doesn’t know if he wants to slap him or not. “I don’t want you to apologize for it, though. But it’s not worth leaving over.”

“You’re one to talk. You _literally left_.”

“Over this?”

“Over me trying to feel up your dick and suck you off; you literally left over it.” Wonwoo snaps, not even bothering to look around this time because _fuck this conversation, fuck them kids, and fuck Mingyu right now_.

He only looks mildly stunned at Wonwoo’s outburst. The audacity. “Is that what you’re worried about? That I’ll run away and leave again?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You kind of _did_ ,” Mingyu points out. “Is that why you’re so upset?”

“Stop talking like you know me.”

“Stop dodging the question, tell me why you’re upset about it.”

“Upset about what?” Wonwoo says a bit too harshly. “You’re not accepting my apology. Are you being purposely obtuse?” 

“A little,” Mingyu replies. Another toothy grin. “But so are you, so we’re even.”

“When was I being obtuse?”

“If I hadn’t run away when you did that, would you still be apologizing for it right now?” Mingyu repeats, slightly slower and Wonwoo feels like he’s being taunted.

“I’m not answering that.”

“Why not?”

Wonwoo freezes, biting his tongue. He doesn’t want to answer that either.

“Then I’m not accepting your apology,” Mingyu replies, not that upset. “Simple.”

“Then I’m leaving,” Wonwoo retorts, holding his hand out for his phone.

“I told you it’s not worth leaving over.” Mingyu shrugs, giving Wonwoo his phone back anyways.

“And me going after your dick was? Why did you want to meet me anyways?” Wonwoo huffs, typing out a simple ‘ _where are you_ ’ text to Junhui.

“It’s a date, isn’t it?”

“This is what you had in mind?”

“Of course not! You weren’t supposed to start the evening by apologizing for something I don’t want you to apologize for,” Mingyu says with an odd chuckle.

“Why don’t you want me to apologize for that?”

Mingyu just smiles. Wonwoo hates it. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“It can’t have been because you liked it, you wouldn’t have run away if that were the case,” Wonwoo retorts.

“I didn’t think it would be this difficult. Tell you what, I’ll tell you why I don’t want you to apologize if you stay.”

The buzz of Wonwoo’s phone alerts both of them. ‘ _I’m still looking for Myungho’s medicine!!’_ is Junhui’s reply, along with a crying sticker. Wonwoo frowns.

Mingyu is still watching him. “So is he coming to get you? Your friend.”

Wonwoo flips his phone over face down. “None of your business.”

“Is he the only reason you’re not leaving?”

Wonwoo’s hand lingers on his phone on the table, finger hovering over the power button. “No,” he admits hesitantly.

Mingyu beams at him, just as the server puts down the large _kimchi stew_ bowl in the middle of the table. 

They eat quietly for a little over fifteen minutes before Wonwoo wants to ask. “Why did you ask me on a date today?”

“Why did you agree to come today?” Mingyu replies with a frustratingly bright smile. 

Wonwoo hates this. He just keeps dancing around all his questions. He can _feel_ Mingyu’s fishing for something while blocking all of Wonwoo’s own fishing attempts.

Mingyu watches him. “I’m kidding. I wanted to see you,” he smiles sincerely, canines showing. “And before you mention it again, because I know you’re going to, I was actually planning on telling you why I ran away that day. But you beat me to the punch by apologizing for it first. Which I still don’t want you to do, by the way.”

“Do you still intend on telling me why you ran away?” Wonwoo asks quietly.

Mingyu's smile now seems more fond than cheeky. “Well, it’s the same reason I don’t want you to apologize, so I do, yes. Does it bother you that much?”

Wonwoo nods. He can at least admit this much to Mingyu.

The smile on Mingyu’s face grows. “That’s all I was looking for.” He looks too happy and now Wonwoo is sure he wants to smack him. “Well, I don’t want you to apologize for it because even after all our dates, you’ve been pretty hard to read. I wasn’t actually sure if you really even liked me that much.”

“But we made out at least three times already,” Wonwoo states, a little curious.

Mingyu chuckles. “Yeah, but I was the one who started all of those. So when you shoved your hand down my pants, it was the first time it was on you, so at least I knew you had to have liked me at least a little bit, even if it was just physically. So no, I don’t want you to take it back.”

“Then why did you run away if that's what you wanted?” Wonwoo asks in a low voice.

“I didn’t want you to think I just wanted to sleep with you and that’s it,” Mingyu says nonchalantly. “So when you got on your knees in front of me, I kind of freaked out and thought if we had sex, you might get the wrong idea. But I also wanted to make sure you weren’t just trying to sleep with _me_ and then run, especially when I hadn’t even told you I like you yet.”

“Ah,” Wonwoo says slowly. This is not what he was expecting. He still doesn’t want to admit that his assumption was wrong and he was all riled up for nothing. He doesn’t want Mingyu to feel like he’s won. “So you _didn’t_ have an emergency meeting where you had to call your mother since you’re such a momma’s boy?” 

“Is that what you thought?” Mingyu’s still amused. Fuck.

“It’s what my friend thought when I told him,” Wonwoo shoots back, voice low. “I thought you were going to tell me you wanted to stop seeing me.”

Mingyu just gives him another fond smile with a dog-like head tilt. “That’s why you’ve been so antsy all evening?”

Wonwoo doesn’t answer, moving his chopsticks about the table at the side dishes like he didn’t hear anything. Mingyu doesn’t press him. 

Wonwoo doesn’t know what he’s doing: he’s upset because Mingyu isn’t immediately reassuring him ‘ _of course I don’t want to stop seeing you_ ’ and is just asking stupid questions instead. He also hates himself a little because he _knows_ he doesn’t have the right to expect Mingyu to start reassuring him when they’re not even together, but he wants it anyways. He just doesn’t want to admit it first. 

He wants Mingyu to just say the things he wants to hear without him asking for it.

“You could have texted, you know,” he says suddenly, biting at his lip a bit.

Mingyu gives him a curious look. Wonwoo doesn’t know if it’s because of how strained his voice sounds or because of how Wonwoo stopped moving, but right now, he doesn’t care.

“When you ran away,” Wonwoo clarifies. “You could have texted to tell me why. At least when you got back home or something. So I wouldn’t have felt so humiliated.” He keeps stopping his sentences in odd places, more focused on rushing the points out than he is on making them sound nice.

Mingyu says nothing, staring at him.

“The first time I felt comfortable showing you I wanted you and you ran away. How was I _supposed_ to feel?” Wonwoo’s pretty sure his bottom lip is bleeding. “It takes me a long time to feel comfortable with someone. And when I finally was, you _ran away_ , like you didn’t want me.”

There’s a silence for a while and all Wonwoo hears is his heart thumping in his ears and he _hates it_.

“You know,” Mingyu leads, moving aside some of the small side dish bowls, “we’ve been on like five dates in the past two months, but this feels like the first time I’m actually _seeing you_.”

“What are you talking about?” Wonwoo asks in a whisper, slightly hurt.

“You were so worried about me running away that night, but it felt like you were constantly running away from me,” Mingyu replies with a shrug. “Like I said before, you’re hard to read. You sticking your hand down my pants was a nice first physical indicator that you like me. But this is the first time you’ve actually let me see the real you. It’s nice.”

Wonwoo looks away, fixing his glasses.

“Just wish it didn’t take so much arguing to get here, but hey, what can you do?” Mingyu sighs to himself. “It was the only way I figured you were going to tell me anything.”

“Arguing?”

“That thing you’ve been doing since your apology for grabbing my dick? That thing you do when you’re too stubborn to admit something? The thing you’re about to do right now?”

Wonwoo opens his mouth to object but then stops. He finds himself chuckling instead.

“By the way, I’m not ignoring your confession. You just ignored mine first and I thought I’d pay you back a little,” Mingyu adds. Wonwoo stares at him wide-eyed. “You thought I didn’t want you, right?”

It’s only what’s been eating at his brain since their last date and making his best friend _and_ his best friend’s boyfriend worry about him. But you know, no biggie.

“You think I haven’t been wondering that about you for the past month?” 

Wonwoo looks down, embarrassed. Mingyu has a point there.

“You can’t come in here being all ‘why don’t you want me?’ after I happened to run from one sign while you've been ignoring all of the signs I gave you that I do.” With an amused sigh, Mingyu reaches over the table to try and hold Wonwoo’s hands. Wonwoo quickly withdraws his, wiping them on his pant legs before reluctantly putting them in Mingyu’s. “I really like you, I want to keep going out with you,” he says earnestly.

“Wait, you’re not kidding right? You’re serious? Like officially? Like exclusively officially?”

Mingyu laughs again, head dropping. “Yes, I’m serious, like exclusively officially.”

Wonwoo nods several times quickly. “Yes. Yeah. Yeah, okay,” he sputters like a nervous teenager and now wants to hit himself.

“So am I going to have to argue with you every time I want actual answers from you?” Mingyu asks.

Wonwoo turns his head away. “Yeah, well,” he mutters, “get used to it.”

Mingyu chuckles. “I look forward to it.” He lets go of Wonwoo’s hands.

They eat a couple more servings quietly until Mingyu speaks up again. “So this friend of yours, the one who thought I was a momma’s boy … do I get to meet them any time soon?”

“Oh, shit.” Wonwoo suddenly remembers his phone. He notices Junhui sent another text about ten minutes ago. ‘ _Wonu? Do you still need me to come get you?_ ’ with a worried crying sticker. “He’s still waiting for me.”

Minyu sends him an intrigued look. “That’s generous.”

Wonwoo shakes his head quickly. “He had to go get his boyfriend’s medicine and was planning to take me out for ice cream if this didn’t go well.” 

“So pick you up _and_ take you out for ice cream. You were _really_ worried about this going well, weren’t you?” Mingyu asks light-heartedly. “I’m flattered.”

“How do you know he’s the one that was supposed to pick me up earlier?”

Mingyu puts his chin in his hand, elbow on the table and shrugs. “Lucky guess.”

‘ _It’s going well, you can go home if you want, thanks_ ’ Wonwoo types in reply with a cute lovey hugging sticker because it’s Junhui. “Three months,” he tells Mingyu, putting his phone down. “To answer your question, I’ll introduce you three months from now.”

“Three months? That’s specific,” Mingyu says, grinning.

“Well, I mean, we _just_ became exclusive, right? I need more time to settle into that before they meet you.”

“Were you dating other people while you were seeing me?”

“No.”

“It’s okay if you were, I’m just asking.”

“Well, I still wasn’t,” Wonwoo says pointedly.

"Okay." Mingyu nods to himself, finishing off his last bowl. “I wasn’t either, by the way,” he adds after a pause.

Wonwoo looks up. “I didn’t ask.”

“But you wanted to.” 

“A little,” Wonwoo replies, smiling a bit.

\-----

By the time they leave the restaurant and start walking down the sidewalk, the sky is in that weird bleeding mix of late afternoon blue and evening purple. Wonwoo spots Junhui walking up to his car, white plastic bag dangling off one hand while he looks through his keys.

“Junnie!” he calls, jogging over to catch him.

“Wonwoo! I thought you said you didn’t need a ride back since it was going okay?” Junhui says, a bit surprised and looking inquisitively at Mingyu approaching behind Wonwoo.

Wonwoo looks over and Mingyu gives him a bright smile. “Uh, Junnie, this is Mingyu, my daaaay—” he stalls and Junhui tilts his head. “My date-turned-boyfriend, as of this evening” — Junhui beams— “he’s a marketing director.” And Junhui’s smile turns into a slight pout.

Wonwoo’s pretty satisfied with being able to fish out that first date information on the spot. “And Mingyu, this is Moon Junhwi, my best friend.”

Mingyu laughs, shaking his hand. “Are you the friend that thought I was a momma’s boy?”

Junhui grins. “The very same!” he replies cheerfully. Wonwoo sometimes forgets how there are times where Junhui can basically have no shame. “You'll have to forgive Wonwoo-yah, he gets nervous easily,” he coos, slinging an arm around Wonwoo’s neck. 

“Please stop embarrassing me,” Wonwoo mumbles.

Mingyu just laughs again. “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing my best to take care of him.”

“Thanks for being so patient with him, he’s quite a handful, isn't he? I was getting so worried but then I heard such great things about you!” Junhui replies in an overly dramatic voice.

Another chuckle. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all.”

“Yeah, sure, fine, act like I’m not here,” Wonwoo mumbles again. He doesn’t like how the grin is back on Mingyu’s face.

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat some more, but I’ve got to get these back to my boyfriend before he gets too fussy,” Junhui says, holding up the plastic bag of medicine for them to see.

“It looks like there are more than three in there,” Wonwoo observes.

Junhui _tsks_ and lowers the bag. “Look, the thing with Myungho is that no matter what number he says, he always _means_ _eight_. He _thinks_ he only needs three, but what he’ll end up doing is he’ll use them within the first three days and then ask me why we don’t have any in the cupboard. Specifically five. If he asks for four, he’ll ask why there aren’t four in the cupboard and it’s… it’s a whole thing,” he says, exhausted by his own explanation.

Mingyu actually laughs at that. Junhui looks a bit surprised before chuckling with him.

“Then why do you ask him how many he wants?” Wonwoo asks curiously.

“So that he still thinks he was in control of this decision.”

Mingyu’s laughter increases, clapping his hands in what Wonwoo can only describe as pure amusement. “Oh, that’s cute! I like that.”

Junhui starts getting in his car, grinning. “Wonwoo-yah, keep this one, I like him,” he says, closing the door. “It was great meeting you, Mingyu! Wonu, text me later when you get home tonight so I know you’re safe. Or tomorrow morning, whatever. Be good, kids!” he shouts out the window and drives off before Wonwoo could object.

Wonwoo covers his face with his hands. “I am so sorry about him,” he groans.

Mingyu pats his shoulder. “Don’t be, he seems really great,” he says with a laugh. Wonwoo just groans in response. “So three months early, that’s a good sign, right?” he asks cheekily. 

Wonwoo shoots his head up. “Shit, I didn’t realize.”

“I can introduce you to one of my friends tomorrow to keep it even, if you want,” Mingyu says casually. 

“You say that like it’s so easy,” Wonwoo grumbles.

Mingyu shrugs. “For me, it is,” he replies. “Honestly, I was just happy you even told your friends about me at all.”

“How do you _do that_?” Wonwoo asks through a confused glare.

“Do what?”

“Say all the right things like they’re nothing?” 

“Is it working?” Mingyu asks with a growing grin, canines showing.

“Is what working?”

“My plan to impress you. Is it working?”

Wonwoo can’t help but grin. “A little.”

**Author's Note:**

> depending on what tones you read his lines in, Mingyu can seem unusually cocky during the first part of the restaurant scene. he's actually saying everything curiously but Wonwoo's too defensive and riled up to see that, so he's convinced Mingyu's being a smug asshole. Mingyu barely has voice direction there to see how his lines would be perceived with just what Wonwoo believes is the truth ;P hope you enjoyed~
> 
> ps. if you guessed that Jun immediately told Minghao everything during the Mandarin spiels, you would be absolutely correct


End file.
